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How to Create an Evernote RSS Reader: Step By Step Tutorial

Learn how to use app integrations to create an Evernote RSS Reader with these simple steps.

With Google’s imminent cancellation of Google Reader due in July, many business users are left with an information disconnect in their knowledge management systems. An RSS reader helps info-savvy business professionals to quickly scan headlines (RSS feeds) on any given topic, drawing on business websites, industry blogs and keyword alerts. How will you be able to keep on top of all of this information now?

On the other hand, there is probably an information disconnect in your knowledge management systems already. Perhaps you have been using an RSS reader to scoop up the latest information and industry data, and an app like Evernote to record your notes, research and new ideas. This can create an information gap as the info you come across in your RSS feeds fails to be added to your note-taking system. You can remember reading that great data point – but where exactly?

So how about combining your RSS reader with your note taking so that Evernote can be a central knowledge management hub for your business?

This tutorial will show you how to use our Evernote/RSS integration to turn Evernote into an RSS reader, and gives you hints on how to store your timely industry information so that it is always accessible.

Creating an Evernote RSS Reader for Your Business

1. In Evernote, create a new notebook called “RSS Feeds”

2. From your home account page, click on the “Create Integration” button at the bottom of your list of current integrations

3. Select the integration you need
Click on the Evernote app in the lefthand app menu. Now click on the RSS feed button in the lefthand app menu as well.

3. The first integration suggested on the right hand side is “Archive RSS posts on Evernote”. Click the “Activate button”

4. If necessary, authorize CloudWork to access your Evernote account

Remember, we never store or read your data, we only need authorization to your Evernote so we can move the data where you want it to go: in this case, to add data from your RSS feeds to Evernote.

5. In a new window or tab of your browser, you can now navigate to one of the sites where you want to scan headlines and select an RSS feed URL

For example, Business2Community has an excellent selection of new business articles on its website, with content updated regularly. On their homepage, you can scroll down until the RSS feed links appear on the right hand side. Right-click on an RSS feed that matches your information needs and choose to copy link. For example, we are choosing the “Business” articles feed from B2C.

6. Paste the RSS link into the lefthand side field

7. Select the notebook you created (“RSS feeds”) from the right-hand drop down menu of Evernote notebooks

8. Now click on the “Create Integration” button

Additional Tips

Filing data and keeping interesting news items
The beauty of creating an Evernote RSS Reader is that you can easily store all the news and data findings that you come across in your daily headline scanning. When you read an item you want to keep, you can either:

Click on the pencil symbol in the top righthandcorner. Now change the notebook from RSS feeds to something more subject specific. Then click the “Done” button next to the search field. The news item will be saved to your notebooks.

Or

Click and hold down the mouse over the news item in the second column of your Evernote screen and drag and drop it to the relevant notebook where you want to save it (in the first column menu list of Evernote notebooks).

Be pragmatic when you fall behind
RSS is constantly feeding you news so it is easy to fall behind. Try to learn to be realistic about your ability to keep up. Every now and again, try and set yourself a date for which you will delete unread news items. For example, you could decide if there are still items in your Evernote RSS Reader from more than 2 weeks ago, you will just delete them all. This helps reduce the stress levels from information overload and prevents you from avoiding your RSS Reader because you are scared of how many items there are to catch up on.

Create RSS feeds from alerts
One of the key benefits of RSS feeds for business users is that you can scan the latest information being released about your industry in a few minutes. You can use Talkwalker alerts for example, to set up an industry alert. Visit talkwalker.com and click on “Create free alert”. Now type in industry terms or competitors names or key issues that you want to monitor and enter your email details. When your alert is set up, you will be taken to a “manage alerts” dashboard.Right click on the RSS symbol:
Save the copy link and add this as an RSS feed to a CloudWork integration with your Evernote. In Talkwalker alerts, you can now click the “Turn email delivery off” so that your RSS feeds go to your Evernote RSS reader and don’t clutter up your inbox.

Share news via email or group notebooks
One of the key findings amongst entrepresneurs and startups scrambling to fill the void filled by the cancellation of Google Reader is that news is not particularly social. Many of us who use RSS readers want unfiltered access to all the latest headlines: not what is trending or popular – we have other tools for that. However, news may be collaborative: we may want to share blog posts or new data research findings with our team, our client base or a particular contractor or business colleague. This is easy to do from your Evernote RSS Reader. You can click on the arrow symbol to Email or tweet thios news item direct from Evernote. For news items you want to share with a business team, you can move to a separate notebook, perhaps one set up for a particular project, and set the notebook properties to share the notebook with other team members. Now everyone involved will have access to your group research. (Don’t forget you can also use our Evernote integrations with Asana and Trello to create seamless workflows across your team project work.)

Create an integrated knowledge management system in your business by using an Evernote RSS Reader to manage the flow of news and data into your business.